Happy, Happy...Joy, Joy

Yesterday started out stressful, but was generally a very happy and good day. Although I started the day out attending the funeral of my Brother-In-Law, that was good in several ways. First of all, because I had to go to work, I didn't have to actually attend the church service. Although there are many comfortable things in the Catholic mass, as a pagan I am a bit uncomfortable with the process. But it brings great comfort to those who do believe and it celebrates the same God/dess that most of us acknowledge, just in a different framework.

My brother-in-law's published obituary started out with the sentence of him ..."Laying down for a dirt nap". Words that elicited commentary and surprise from many who came to celebrate his life and support his family. But I had to admit that I loved the statement. It was SO Larry. We had our differences over the years, but there was a wicked sense of humor that would come through at odd moments, and that was one example of it.

So your thought for the day...if you were to die tomorrow, what would you want your obituary to say? Who would attend your memorial service, or would you even want to have one? How would you want it conducted? Many people consider these thoughts to be depressing or something that they don't want to think about. But if you put some thought into it, you can make your final party a creative and wonderful outlet for your final expression, and you will leave those who attend better for having spent that time with you and with memories that they will cherish. So think about it....

Mt Baby's Back!

I looked back through my posts to figure out when my computer died. The 5th of March. And today is the 13th of March. Friday the 13th - turning out to be a lucky day after all. My baby (which weighs more than 40 pounds - so no baby) was returned to me and plugged back in last night. And it works. Flawessly. The best part of it is that they didn't have to delete any of my installed programs - all is still there and I could just pick up where I left off. I'm so HAPPY that I'm OK with going to a funeral to start off my day.

Among the many things that happened to me this past week was the death of my Brother-in-Law, Larry. Now Larry and I were never best friends, although we managed to be civil with each other. I really had wanted to be friends with him for the sake of my DH, and had really tried when I was younger. But there were too many fundamental differences, starting from the fact that he was a conservative, devout Roman Catholic, and I am a liberal pagan, and going from there. In other words - there wasn't a lot of common ground. Still, he had a miserable year dying of cancer and I don't wish that on anyone. He died at home on Tuesday surrounded by his family. How many people are lucky enough to do that. And he'll have his mass and funeral today. So I'll be in black, and be late to work, but I'll show up and bury Larry on Friday the 13th.

Hope your Friday the 13th is a bit happier than mine, and that you have a wonderfully creative and joyful day. (No time for accompanying pics today.)

Ultimatum Time

My patience has just about worn out. I'm SO tired of working on a laptop without my main computer. Even though my computer was able to start up safely late Saturday, things have been in a holding pattern while the flu struck my repair firm. But, I will be getting the CPU back today and will be putting my computer room back together tonight. Then I can start reviewing and recapturing the things I needed to save to hard drive over the past week+.

My studio day, since I was waiting for a call from my computer techs, was not very good. I did get my flowers completely cleaned off in acid so that they are totally ready for the kiln next week. But I didn't get my numbers together for my accountant, and I didn't fire up the kiln at all. I did play LOTRO for much of the day, so I guess I really needed that release. Not having my own computer to play with has been very annoying, especially when the next update will be downloaded next week in time for the Vernal equinox. I hope you had a great Wednesday and will have a good Thursday. Cross your fingers that my computer will finally return home where it is loved :-) - LOL

Illness Strikes - Curses, Foiled Again!

There must be something going around again. The tech who has been working on my computer went home sick on Monday and was still out on Tuesday. I have been assured that he will be there today (Wednesday) and be able to finish up my computer today. I really hope so, I miss my baby :-))

And VerLaine, my co-worker, friend, and Assistant Manager was most certainly also feeling down and under the weather yesterday. She was a trooper though, and showed up in spite of stomach cramps and general malaise. I hope she's on the mending end and feeling much better today.

Ideally I'll be firing up the flowers that I prepped over the past few weeks today, but I also have to stay ready to pick up my computer when they contact me. Therefore, firing up the kiln is a maybe instead of a certitude. I also have to gather all of my numbers and print my statements for my Tuesday meeting with my accountant. I'm certainly happy that we didn't have that meeting last night - the roads were pure ice and it would NOT have been a fun drive to her office.

Think creatively, make art for the sake of happiness, scratch that artistic itch in your hands today.

Searching for my Computer.....

Actually, I know exactly where my computer is....unfortunately it is not on my desk :-( I should get it back today, but it's been a hard haul to just live with my laptop. Now, if I had never gotten into the information age in the 80's and 90's, would I be a happier person? I'm not sure about happier - there are many friends that I may never have met. But I think I would be healthier because I doubt that I would be waking between 3:30am and 4:00am to catch up with my computer work before I leave for work in the morning if I didn't have the work waiting on my electronic buddy.

The computer and our age of instant communications is a two-edge sword and there are many times that I think the wrong edge is facing out. Do we control the electronics.....or do they control us? Think about leaving your home without your cell phone. Do you have an infrared/RFD device that locks and unlocks your car? Do you even bother locking/unlocking it with a key any more? Is the TV on all the time in your home? How about your radio or Ipod/MP3 player? Do you even bother with film in your camera anymore? We can't walk backwards in time, but what have we lost for this "progress"?

We have lost time together instead of eating in front of the television. We have lost time playing outdoors with other kids or adults instead of sitting in front of a screen playing video or on-line games. We have developed a society of "wanna" people whose needs and wants are dictated by popular marketing, and that has led to a throw-away economy where we get rid of clothing because it is out of style rather than mending the tear, sewing on the button, or remaking the gown into a newer style if the fabric is still good. I'm not saying "don't be stylish", but I am saying to think about your conspicuous consumption. I'm as guilty as any of you who may be reading this. But I think about how my ancestors were able to pack most of their household belongings into a waggon bed and go to a different town to set up shop again. How many of us would be able to do that now? Instead we hire or rent large trucks to move us to a new place. And then we complain about how it is so hard to get all of the boxes unpacked.

Well, I've come a way from the original premise of looking for my computer, but there are some thoughts for the day. So think about it. What could you trim in your life and still have a good one? I'm working on minimizing some items from my overcrowded life because I know I'm over the top, and I suspect I'm far from alone :-)

Downsizing

I'm not selling my home (not that I wouldn't like to) or my car (hopefully not for many more years), but it's been strange relying on my laptop instead of my desktop computer. I will probably get my desktop CPU back late today and will be able to be back up and fully operational by Tuesday night, but my little laptop has been a great workhorse in the meantime. I am glad, however, that I don't have to rely 100% on this computer - it just doesn't have the power that I really need/want in a daily machine. Hope your Monday is going well.